To say the first episode of Married At First Sight Australia was incredibly dramatic, would be an understatement.
In a shocking twist, contestant Bronte found out her new husband Harrison wasn’t as committed to her and the MAFS experiment as he first claimed to be…
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Throughout the inaugural episode of Married At First Sight Season 10, Harrison constantly said he wanted to meet ‘the one’ and that he hoped the MAFS experiment would help him find a person he could seriously commit to.
“I’m here because I want a relationship. I take the notion of marriage very seriously… Once you’ve found that person you’ve made that commitment to, for me, that’s done, like, you’re off the market,” Harrison told cameras.
He also repeatedly said he was on MAFS for “the right reasons”.
And sure, Harrison came across as overly confident and cocky but despite that, for most of the episode, he seemed perfect for Bronte as they both said they valued loyalty, communication and trust above all else. Plus, they both wanted a relationship like their respective parents, who have all been married for 25+ years.
When Bronte and Harrison said, “I do,” it honestly seemed like a match made in heaven. Even at the reception, Bronte glowed with happiness as Harrison went and brought her dad a beer.
“You know, in the past, I’ve always had to tell boyfriends or guys that I’ve been dating that they need to make more of an effort with my family. And just the fact that [Harrison] just literally got up and was like, ‘I’m going to go speak to your dad,’… It was so cute,” Bronte gushed.
But then disaster struck. One of Bronte’s friends, Jessica Tomlinson – who was supposed to appear on Channel Ten’s The Bachelors but was edited out at the last minute for appearing on a competing show – asked if she could have a private word.
And Jessica tells Bronte that she recognises Harrison. “I have a friend that is from Sydney. She told me about this guy, that is going on to MAFS, that she has been dating for the last month and a half. I spoke to her, she told me that he is, like, saying to her how he’s gonna… wants to be with her, when he finishes this experiment. Babe, it’s him, it’s Harrison.”
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“He’s pretty much been planning a future with this young girl and he’s planning on being with her after this experience,” Jessica continued.
Bronte looks shocked and accuses Jessica of “lying”. But good ol’ Jess has the receipts to prove her claim. “I have pictures of himself and the blonde girl that he’s been dating,” Jessica said before showing Bronte all the evidence she had against Harrison.
According to The Daily Mail, the girl Jessica is referring to, is one of her co-stars from The Bachelors. And with a little digging and the hints Jessica drops (20 years old and blonde), it seems Harrison dated (/is dating?!) Abby, who competed for Jed McIntosh’s love on Channel Ten’s reality show.
Bronte, angry and hurt, heads off to confront her husband. “So, you know how we were talking about honesty? Who’s the 20-year-old you have on the outside?,” Bronte sassily asks Harrsion.
At first, Harrison denies he has a girlfriend. He also denies having “anyone” on the outside.
But then after Bronte pushes him to “be honest”, he makes a shocking admission: “Look, um, I was seeing a number of girls before I came into this. I’m a single guy in Sydney. And yeah, like, I didn’t know if this was gonna last a week, a month, the entire experiment…”
“Look, there was someone that I’ve had a crush on for a long time and we connected like a week before doing this [MAFS],” Harrison continued.
He then weirdly admitted to his wife that he “kind of” wished that he was going on MAFS with this person he has a crush on, before becoming extremely defensive.
“Why are you attacking me over it?” Harrison asks Bronte. Then he says she has nothing to worry about because he’s broken off all his ‘relationships’ and is committed to Bronte and the MAFS experiment. Bronte warns him that if he’s lying, it’ll be “hard to come back from”.
The two return to their wedding reception but Bronte quickly leaves again to seek guidance and support from her sister, Kirra. And the poor newlywed bride finally breaks down in tears. Kirra is furious that Harrison has put on a “nice guy facade” and that, in her opinion, he obviously isn’t on MAFS for “the right reasons”.
Eventually, Bronte and Kirra go back to the reception and pretend like nothing is wrong while Harrison makes a toast, laughing and completely at ease. It’ll be interesting to see if Bronte and Harrison can overcome this massive roadblock, or if their marriage ends the same day it began…
Married At First Sight continues tomorrow at 7.30pm on 9 and 9Now.
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